Schwarzenegger to address school nutrition experts

The event, which will run from July 16-19, marks the 60th annual conference of the non-profit organization, which promotes high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the country.

The conference will bring together over 4,600 school nutrition professionals from around the United States and 17 other countries to participate in four days of education sessions that will cover topics including nutrition standards for vended and a la carte foods and beverages, healthy cooking techniques and food safety efforts.

The conference will also kick off a nationwide campaign encouraging students to vote for their favorite school lunch and spread the word about the changes in school lunch over the years.

Governor Schwarzenegger's straight-line views on nutrition have become well known in recent years, attracting significant media attention partly because of his previous role as body-builder and entertainment star.

Just last year, Schwarzenegger promoted legislation that would extend the ban on soft drinks in elementary schools to high schools, claiming that the state's children are facing an obesity epidemic.

And more recently, he took a stand against the proposed National Uniformity for Food Act, which is said to threaten California's Proposition 65, a set of stringent rules that ensure the safety of the state's food supply.

Just three months ago, Governor Schwarzenegger announced his opposition to the bill, expressing "deep concern regarding the potential consequences this legislation could have on our consumers and public health."​

His address at the School Nutrition Association conference next week promises to follow the same lines, in an attempt to take a stand against the nation's growing obesity epidemic, which now affects around 16 percent of American children.

Education sessions at the School Nutrition Association conference will highlight implementation and evaluation strategies for local School Wellness Policies.

Under terms of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, by the start of the 2006-2007 school year, every school that participates in the school lunch or school breakfast program- the large majority of US schools- must have a local wellness policy in place.

The National School Lunch Program is a voluntary program, which provides funding to schools that implement certain nutritional guidelines.

School Wellness Policies, designed to address the problem of childhood obesity, require that schools set nutrition standards for all foods sold in school, including in vending machines, a la carte lines, and school stores.

Although the wellness policy will not be federally regulated and is likely to differ form school to school, it will contribute to addressing a loophole that allows the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to set standards for foods sold in the lunchroom, but forbids it from setting standards for foods sold elsewhere on campus.

The conference next week will also house an exhibition of a variety of "innovative and appealing"​ new items designed to meet schools' demands for nutritious foods and beverages. These will include fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, low-fat flavored milks, 100 percent juices, reduced fat and organic snacks and antibiotic-free chicken.

The conference will also feature USDA Commodity Program education sessions, which will explore changes to the commodity program that have made more nutritious food products available to school lunch programs.

And prior to the conference, the Global Child Nutrition Forum, due to take place between July 13 and 16, will feature school feeding experts from 17 countries discussing global child nutrition programs.

The world's largest gathering of school nutrition professionals includes more than 80 accredited education sessions on commodities, leadership, managing resources, marketing, food safety and security and wellness and nutrition. More than 800 exhibit booths will display new foods, beverages, equipment and technology that all contribute to healthy school meal programs.